Man sentenced in crash that killed two construction workers

Yocio Gomez walked into a Torrance courtroom Friday to be sentenced in the 2012 deaths of two Caltrans workers in a DUI crash on the 405 Freeway.

Yocio Gomez walked into a Torrance courtroom Friday to be sentenced in the 2012 deaths of two Caltrans workers in a DUI crash on the 405 Freeway. (KTLA)

Debbie Truong

Man sentenced to 34 years to life in prison for DUI crash had .21% blood-alcohol level

A Wilmington man was sentenced Friday to 34 years to life in prison for a DUI crash on the 405 Freeway in 2012 that killed two construction workers, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said.

Yocio Jonathan Gomez, 25, was driving a Ford Explorer at 90 mph through a construction zone on the 405 Freeway in Torrance on July 22, 2012, when he rear-ended a Lexus SUV, which spun out of control.

The SUV struck and killed Ramon Lopez and Ricardo Zamora, according to court testimony. A third worker was injured.

The men, who were employed by Caltrans contractors, were doing asphalt work in the northbound freeway's far right lane near Artesia Boulevard when they were hit by the Lexus, a California Highway Patrol officer told The Times shortly after the crash.

Gomez was convicted April 25 of two counts each of second-degree murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and one count each of DUI causing injury and DUI with a blood-alcohol level above .08%, with two or more priors, the district attorney's office said.

Patrick T. Fallon / Los Angeles Times

Investigators document the scene of a fatal crash that killed two Caltrans on the 405 Freeway on July 22, 2012.

Investigators document the scene of a fatal crash that killed two Caltrans on the 405 Freeway on July 22, 2012. (Patrick T. Fallon / Los Angeles Times)

On the night of the crash, Gomez had left a gathering of friends in Long Beach with a .21% blood-alcohol level. He ignored partygoers who asked him to spend the night because he had been drinking, prosecutors said.